Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1 Welcome to the World of Football; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 The Growth and Commercialization of Professional Football; 1.3 Crime-Inducing Features of the Market; 1.3.1 Money Laundering; 1.3.2 Corruption in Football; 1.3.3 Tax Fraud; 1.4 Reflection; 2 The Role and Self-Image of Football Agents; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Agent, Broker, Business Manager, Representative or Intermediary?; 2.3 Regulation and Registration; 2.4 Trust Relations; 2.5 Agents as Hawks; 2.6 Culpable Involvement of Intermediaries in Financial and Economic Crime in Football; 2.7 The View of Agents on the Excesses in Football and the Measures Against Them; 2.8 Reflection; 3 The Football Sector as Semi-autonomous Social Field; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Legal Status and Organizational Structure; 3.2.1 FIFA; 3.2.2 UEFA; 3.3 Organizational Culture; 3.4 Collusion; 3.4.1 Collusion Between Club-related Individuals and Members of Associations; 3.4.2 Collusion Between Private Organizations and Government Institutions/Politics; 3.5 Reflection; 4 Breaking Down the Walls of Silence; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Creating Awareness and Encouraging Inquisitiveness; 4.3 Better and More Accurate Data; 4.4 Promoting Disclosure: Whistle-Blowing; 4.4.1 The Essence; 4.4.2 Internal and External Mechanisms; 4.4.3 Considerations Whether or Not to Blow the Whistle; 4.4.4 Resisting Legal Power Play; 4.5 Naming and Shaming Strategies; 4.6 Reflection; 5 Mucking Out the Stalls: Improving Governance Within the Football Sector; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Ownership and Investments; 5.2.1 Distribution of Shares; 5.2.2 Screening Owners and Major Shareholders; 5.2.3 Licence; 5.3 Transfer System; 5.3.1 Transfer Clearing House; 5.3.2 Football Agents; 5.3.3 Squad Size and Home-Grown Players; 5.4 Reflection; 6 Putting External Pressure on the Football Industry; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 A Supervising Sports Authority; 6.3 Expanding the AML Regime?; 6.4 Criminal Law Enforcement; 6.5 Reflection: Towards an Integrated Multi-Agency Approach; Epilogue; BibliographyAn analysis of recent criminal activity in European professional football. It discusses issues in relation to the financing and ownership of professional football clubs and the transfer of players.This book is the result of an analysis and reflection on crime risks and financial criminal activity taking place in European professional football in recent decades. Its main goal is to discuss some relevant criminological issues in relation to the financing and ownership of professional football clubs and the transfer of players. As the title suggests, the book covers both the outrageous business patterns and habits – and the associated high risk of financial crime – that have manifested themselves in this line of industry, as well as our inclination to turn a blind eye to these developments (like an ostrich with its head in the sand). Curiosity was the main instigator of this book, in terms of identifying the major problems and criminal activity in the professional football industry, grasping the motivations of those involved and understanding the societal reaction, or lack thereof, towards these problems. In the second part of the book, the author suggests some strategies that may assist in making the market of European professional football more crime-resistant. These strategies are linked to changes in the organizational culture, structure and forms of supervision and control.